Think of a 2nd engineer with 10 years at sea. He knows his engine room better than anyone. He gets a call for a good contract. Then he fails the English test by a few marks.
This happens more than you think. And it is almost never about the job. It is about small mistakes that are easy to fix.
Here are 7 of them.
1. Practising the night before
Most people open the practice test one day before the exam. It does not work. English is like fitness. You cannot fix it in one night.
Twenty minutes a day for two weeks is much better than five hours the night before. Start when you first hear about the contract, not when the interview is tomorrow.
2. Ignoring the listening part
Listening is where many people lose the most marks. The speaker is fast. The accent may be new. And you hear it only once.
So practise with audio, not only with reading. Watch English videos about ships and safety. Do not stop and think too long on one answer. Catch the main idea and move on.
3. Not knowing the ship words
If you do not know the word "bulkhead" or "fairlead", the question looks very hard. It is not hard. You just have not seen the word before.
Keep a small notebook. Write 5 new words every day: deck, engine room, safety, weather. Read the list in the morning while you drink your tea.
4. Mixing up the numbers
Fifteen and fifty. Thirteen and thirty. On the audio they sound almost the same.
On a ship, this mistake can be dangerous. In the test, it costs you marks. Listen for the stress: thirTEEN and THIRty. Write the number down as soon as you hear it.
5. Being afraid of grammar
You do not need perfect English. You need clear English.
Just get the basics right. Past and present. One and many. Small words like in, on, at and to. That is enough for most questions.
6. Spending too long on one question
One hard question can eat five minutes. Then the last ten questions are done in a hurry.
If you are stuck, move on. Come back at the end if you have time. An empty answer is worse than a guess.
7. Never doing a full practice test
This is the big one.
Reading a book is not the same as sitting in front of a timer with audio in your ears. The pressure feels different. If the first time you feel it is on exam day, it is too late.
Do a full practice test at least once. You will see where you are weak, and you will fix it before it costs you a job.
Start today
You do not need to be a great English speaker. You need to know the test and practise a little every day.
Try our free practice demo on Maritime Tests. It takes a few minutes. You will see the type of questions and know your level.
If you have a friend or colleague who is waiting for his next contract, send him this page. It may help him more than you think.
